Weight Reduction for better FE

[almightybmw]

Originally Posted by theholycow

I've been driving with ~300 pounds extra for a couple months now. My FE has gone down mainly with the weather and driving changes I've had to make; I don't think I can blame the slight decrease on weight, though I can't prove that (and I can't get rid of the weight to test it, either).



I have observed the same thing, and wondered that too; I think the fundamental underpoweredness of a bicyclist's power source is to blame for extreme sensitivity to wind resistance (and to drafting).

speak for yourself, I'm not underpowered! To work, slight downhill, I can maintain an average, over 3.2miles, of 18mph on my bike. Going home, it's 12mph. That's with the snow tires, heavier, bigger. The summer tires I was 2-3mph faster average.
Anyways.

The valley I live in is flat, so there are no hills on any local commutes. But when leaving, I cross mountain passes, and having the extra 500lbs (exaggeration) of weight only heats up my brakes when I have to slow down the passes. By coasting, I know I'll hit 90-100mph downhill, with a possibility of a ticket; not something I want. So the extra weight actually fails me on both accords for my extreme "hills" up and down. I'll need a SG to prove this of course, with 5 people in the car, and just me.

I do agree that aero drag starts as soon as you move. Property of physics doods. Didn't someone create a wind tunnel that placed the car on a treadmill, so they could incorporate frictional losses into the total drag cd? Yes someone did, for F1 racing though.
Man I'm on tangent today.

I'm sure baasjoos can coast further than I can, even though his car weighs 1000lbs+ less than mine. His drag < mine and that property outweighs frictional rolling losses and mass differences.